Beyond the Sword Fact Sheet

[LDiCesare]

I wonder if the late game additions will make much of a difference. Often, to me, the game is pretty much decided around the time you reach industrial era since tech leaders have a big bonus around that time. So will the additional units and buildings change anything except lengthening the game?
I think the Byzantine's UB utterly rocks and the cataphracts look nice. I've always wanted to play Justinian anyway.
Lansquenets (landsknechts) seem very powerful too.
The Portuguese carrack looks awesome on oceans, rachipelagos or Terra maps.
I think Sumerians are a bit weak, with a poor UB and protective trait that doesn't match their UU.
And indeed Darius looks great and the Dutch should be powerhouses when they start building dikes.

[Provost Harrison]

Blimey, plenty has happened in my absence. Nice to have all this information now to plan my strategy ahead of time

But HRE does seem a very strange choice for a civ with the other alternatives available. Besides, what are they going to pick for their city names?

[Will9]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Blimey, plenty has happened in my absence. Nice to have all this information now to plan my strategy ahead of time

But HRE does seem a very strange choice for a civ with the other alternatives available. Besides, what are they going to pick for their city names?

Probably Belgain, Burgundian, and Northern Italian cities.

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by Will9


Probably Belgain, Burgundian, and Northern Italian cities.

Together, those suggested cities would represent the old Lotharingian kingdom, which went from the Netherlands in the north through Burgundy and Lorraine to Provence, Savoy and Milan in the south.

[Guynemer]

Clearly, the capital will be Aachen; Worms will also be on the list; but everything else will be tertiary French, German, Austrian, Belgian, and Italian cities.

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by Guynemer
Clearly, the capital will be Aachen; Worms will also be on the list; but everything else will be tertiary French, German, Austrian, Belgian, and Italian cities.

I would say that a wise hypothesis for determining the city list would be along these lines, seeing what important HRE cities are not currently included in other civs.

[Fidel]

would the random opponents generator select HRE only if germany and france are out of that particular game?

[Virdrago]

Originally posted by Guynemer
Clearly, the capital will be Aachen; Worms will also be on the list; but everything else will be tertiary French, German, Austrian, Belgian, and Italian cities.

Worms
Hopefully, Aachen will be called by it's original moniker, Aix-la-Chappelle.
Many of the "tertiary" cities were major cities at that time. A lot of the major French, German, Austrian, and Italian cities of today weren't "major" at all in 900. There will also be Swiss cities.

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by Virdrago

Hopefully, Aachen will be called by it's original moniker, Aix-la-Chappelle.

Who said Aix-la-Chapelle was the original name? The Romans apparently called it "Aquis Granum" if I remember correctly. The Latinizing West Franks somehow changed that into Aix, and the Germanic East Franks into Aachen.

AFAIK, it's gone by both names ever since Charlemagne, but Aachen has become more prevalent since it's in Germany.

[Virdrago]

Sorry, it's the maps in the books I've read. What would Charlemagne have called it? Maybe that's why - wasn't he originally West Frankish?

[Locutus]

Virtually all cities in Civ have anglicised names whenever these are available (from Munich, Moscow and Damascus to Elephantine, Carthage and Persepolis). I wouldn't count too much on Aachen being known by anything other than Aachen, the name the English know it by...

[Kuciwalker]

IIRC it was Aix-la-Chapelle in the Medieval scenario for Civ3.

[Falconius]

Originally posted by Xorbon
Wasn't Australia part of that Australo-Hungarian empire?

Yes, and WWI was triggered by Aborigine nationalists assassinating the Emperor and his wife with boomerangs.

[Will9]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/798/798385p1.html 4 page preview and tons of new scrennshots have been released.

Highways?

[Will9]

This screenshot comes earlier than the one I posted above and shows railrods being resaerched with many more highways. So, Railroads replace highways? They could just be new late game art for roads.